The invention relates to an apparatus for metering and dispensing solid and liquid materials. The invention is particularly useful for metering and dispensing certain volumes of sand and water into a cement mixer for mixing with mortar to form cement.
The task of mixing sand, water and mortar mix to form cement is a common activity on construction sites. In order to produce cement of acceptable hardness and quality, the sand, water and mortar must be mixed in specific ratios. The amount of sand and water added to the mixture has a direct impact on the color and hardness of the cement. For example, the amount of sand particularly impacts two important qualities of the cement-color and hardness. Color is particularly important when the cement is being used as a grout, and hardness is critical to virtually every application of cement. As such, masons must take time to accurately measure specific volumes of sand and water to mix with a certain weight of mortar to produce a cement having satisfactory hardness and other desired qualities. A mistake in measuring the sand and water can lead to cement of unacceptable quality causing substantial losses in time and money. In addition, government regulations in recent years have increasingly required cement used in various construction projects to have a certain hardness, making accurate measurement of ingredients all the more critical.
Industry-wide construction standards generally require the cement to have a hardness of 1800 pounds per square inch (p.s.i.). Mortar mix is typically packaged and sold in bags containing seventy-two pounds of mortar. In addition, most commercial cement mixers are designed to receive and mix two seventy-two pound bags of mortar mix. According to industry standards, six cubic feet of sand and approximately ten gallons of water are required to be mixed with 144 pounds of mortar mix to produce cement having a hardness of 1800 p.s.i. As such, it is common for masons to have to measure six cubic feet of sand and ten gallons of water to mix with 144 pounds of mortar mix. Generally, workers measure the sand and water by hand using conventional measuring devices, and then pour the sand and water by hand into the cement mixer along with two bags of mortar. This is a time-consuming and inefficient process that is prone to human error, particularly in the hectic environment of the typical construction site. In addition, the quality of the product can vary depending on the training and skills of the workers measuring and mixing the ingredients. Furthermore, there is a risk of injury to the workers due to the fact that workers must position themselves close to the mixer, which has dangerous blades, in order to pour the sand, water and mortar into the mixer.
In an effort to overcome and eliminate the aforementioned problems, the present invention was conceived.